Bavarian Minister Says Games as Bad as Child Porn

[Inverse Skies]

That's an interesting correlation to draw... one based on no hard evidence whatsoever.

I can do something similar... maybe I can't. It's 3am...

 

[mattttherman3]

Well now, what have every mass murderer have in common? They are outcasts, just because someone plays video games doesn't mean they kill people. The responsibility falls on the retailers not to sell it directly to minors and then the parents to not buy their kids the games for which they are not old enough to play. At least sit down with them and explain that it is not real and should never be done outside video games. If you ban video games anywhere, you could get a civil war on your hands. By the way, I thought the world was in an economic crisis? So why doesn't this fucker go make a bailout or something.

Child porn? Really? I don't even know how to respond to that. What a moron.

 

[Vlane]

Silly german jerk.

 

[westx207]

We've seen a lot of these kind of reports recently, but I'd really like to see more criticisms like Jarzombek's. It was slightly thereputic to read that there are some people who aren't totally off the wall yet.

I am, of course, assuming that there are other critics.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

I'm going to say... No. No they are not, and please remove your head from your rear you misinformed preachy sack of uselessness.

Amen

 

[Simriel]

I'm going to say... No. No they are not, and please remove your head from your rear you misinformed preachy sack of uselessness.

Amen

Praise me. You know its the right thing to do.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

We've seen a lot of these kind of reports recently, but I'd really like to see more criticisms like Jarzombek's. It was slightly thereputic to read that there are some people who aren't totally off the wall yet.

I am, of course, assuming that there are other critics.

I agree, I think that these people complaining about the various bit of media influencing youth activity is stupid, yet very few people are brave enough to come out and say that these people are just going over the top. In England this year, a poem which is AGAINST KNIFE CRIME was removed from state school's lists of things that need to be taught to pupils, just because it mentions knife crime in it.

Whether or not these theories of childish influence is true, the level of paranoia is just stupid. If you watch Bowling For Columbine, that talks alot about gun crime and the influences or potential influences of it.

 

[oliveira8]

I wonder were these politicians came from....the gaming industry makes money go round and round the same way Tobacco and Alcoho

l make money go round and round...Were is the people banning Tobacco and alcohol in mass? I open todays newspaper and I can see at least 5 news related to someone that was drunk and driving and provoked an acident/deaths. Were is the mass crusade versus Alcohol?

Smoking causes lung cancer and other countless breathing diseases, killing thousands every year. Were is the mass crusade versus Smoking?

Maybe instead of spending hours/days/months/years and millions of dollars/euros/etc etc in making bills to ban video games, the Goverment should install strict gun control and keep the guns to the military. Instead of blaming CS you should wonder were they got the weapons...idiots.

 

[Rodger]

Comments like that make Jack Thompson look like an okay guy by comparison. But holy sweet mother of pearl what is going on over there in Germany? One recent shooting, which obviously had nothing to do with video games and anyone who even cared to so much as take a quick glance at the guy's history, and suddenly they're treating video games as if they're condensed evil in a can?

Just out of curiosity, has anyone here seen the warning labels GTA: Chinatown Wars got in Germany?

 

[GonzoGamer]

This just makes me curious about what Herrmann's got hidden in his sock drawer.

Son of Sam was told to kill young women by his neighbor's dog. To my knowledge, there was no talk of banning dogs at that time.

 

[Tiamat666]

There's always going to be people pointing fingers at "new" things they know very little about.

I remember reading somewhere that in the 19th century, when trains started to appear, some panic dispersers started rambling about how travelling in trains will make you stupid because the brain is squished from the acceleration and human bodies where never intended to move at such accelerated speeds...

 

[Brotherofwill]

Wooohooo go Bavaria! Woo, Wooo, makes me proud to be German!

Nah seriously; Bavaria, in terms of culture and attitude, is pretty old-school and these comments are just ridiculous. All the people that compare Bavaria to the whole of Germany are a little of, but the biggest problem is definetly the media right now, spilling tons of BS that would embarrass Fox-News.

Time again and again...this is just an age problem. The elderly just have to accept that Timmy's 360 or PS3 is more dear to him than his grandparents . One day the generational difference will be overcome, in maybe 20 years, until then I'll just let good ol' Dylan speak my sentiments on the matter:

"Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[dnadns]

You may also consider that bavaria, although quite famous for tourists, is actually very, very conservative. The guy who said that speaks for the christian party which has lost of votes over the last year (they were pretty much always voted before).

I am pretty sure that he is sort of hopping on the topic to show that this kind of things won't happen if they get back to decide such things.

They came up with this before and CryTech responded by suggesting a relocation to a more "developer-friendly" area. After that, the politicians somehow cooled down. They probably had a look at the taxes CryTech pays and how many workplaces they offer.

 

[Taerdin]

So sure, perhaps video games aren't so super influential that they cause people to act out violently...

But thats not to say there isnt a correlation between violent behaviour and playing violent video games. I feel like people are just interpreting it wrong. If someone is mentally unstable or a violent person, and they play video games, it would seem pretty likely that they would enjoy violent games wouldnt you agree?

So maybe its not such much that violent games cause violent behaviour, but rather that violent personalities are drawn to violent outlets for those tendancies (games, physical violence).

Or maybe I'm just a complete idiot

 

[whyarecarrots]

So sure, perhaps video games aren't so super influential that they cause people to act out violently...

But thats not to say there isnt a correlation between violent behaviour and playing violent video games. I feel like people are just interpreting it wrong. If someone is mentally unstable or a violent person, and they play video games, it would seem pretty likely that they would enjoy violent games wouldnt you agree?

So maybe its not such much that violent games cause violent behaviour, but rather that violent personalities are drawn to violent outlets for those tendancies (games, physical violence).

Or maybe I'm just a complete idiot

And that's the problem with the anti-games bandwagon: they assume that this correlation means that video games cause the problems, whereas the games are, in all likelihood, little more than symptoms of a far deeper problem. And while you can argue that maybe taking out video games may reduce violent tendencies very slightly, it's also ignoring the real issue: ie, how that boy was able to get access to the weapon so easily, and why he was in the state that he was in in the first place: not only is the bandwagon misinformed, it's also counterproductive.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

"In regards to their harmful effects, [violent video games] are on the same level as child pornography and illegal drugs, the ban on which rightly is unquestioned."

Not like all those lovely legal drugs then - because alcohol, for instance, has never been involved in any shootings ever.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

"In regards to their harmful effects, [violent video games] are on the same level as child pornography and illegal drugs, the ban on which rightly is unquestioned."

Not like all those lovely legal drugs then - because alcohol, for instance, has never been involved in any shootings ever.

Or car accidents, or knifings, or beatings, or clubbings, or broken-bottling, or general assaults, or robberies, or disturbings of the peace, or manslaughters, or maimings, or.... or... or... clubbings? No, I've used that one. Oh! Of course! Murders!